Ebook Mysticism in World Religion

Among primitive peoples the greatest significance is attached to the experience of ecstasy and trance as a means of contact with the unseen. The utterance of a man in trance is commonly held to emanate from the spirits of the dead. 'the primitive seer or prophet stands midway between the mystic and the The phase Of religion which centres in the work of the inspired prophet or seer is known as 'shamanism' from the word 'shaman' used among the Tunguses Of Central and Eastern Siberia. (the same type Of religion is found among the Eskimo, the Australians, and many tribes Of North and South America.) The shaman has to undergo a lengthy training; he prepares him~ self for his work by fasting and solitude. He receives instruction from an Old shaman, who teaches him the lore of spirits. He is Often a man of psychic abnormality, but it is significant that his trouble is cured by the exercise Of his arts. He acts as healer, rain-maker, diviner, and exorcist, purifying a house where death has occurred by driving away the ghost. He is not a mere medium: he sees the spirits, and enters into communication with them, but he is not their passive instrument. Rather is he their master; he controls the powers through which he works. Yet he is not, typically, proud or overbearing. Among the Yakuts Of Siberia it is said that, While the shaman must be possessed of inner strength, he must not be presumptuous. In his Study of Shamanism, Eliade has shown that its characteristic feature is ecstasy, and that in this experience the belief in Spirit-possession is in reality secondary and derivative, and not primary. From ancient times, he says, the religion of Central Asia was marked by the worship of a supreme sky-god, but in course of time this belief became progressively less significant; it was replaced by the cult Of ancestral spirits and other beings. As a result the belief in spirit possession was introduced. The primary and fundamental aspect of mstasy is the ascent of the soul of the shaman to Heaven, Where it enters into communion with the divine. Even when the notion of spirit-possession was introduced, it did not entirely displace the earlier symbolism; the ascent to Heaven remained.